Well now, you have gotten yourself in a tight spot this time, haven't you Trist? This thought ran through my mind as I was being led away from the scene of a burglarized house that belonged to a noblewoman in the city of Arcadia. That stone I nabbed didn't even belong to that pompous hag and here I was, being led away in chains while she gets off with nothing but a warning! Outrageous I say!

You know you brought this upon yourself Trist, and now we both will pay the price.

This voice had become familiar to me, ringing inside my head and my soul. Ignis, my very own fire spirit and friend, was, as usual, berating me on how badly I had messed up. He had been doing this for most of my life, ever sense we met that faithful day. Oh, I remember it as if it were yesterday...

I was back home in my small village just three days journey south of Arcadia. It was a small, close-knit town of only twenty people. But when I was born, this almost family like town had turned against my parents for fear of being cursed or sacrificed to demons. I was born with a curse in my blood, the people refer to my kind as Tainted, for we are the direct consequences of an accident that resulted in the invasion of our world from the infernal plane. Demons infested many people with a sickness that, while curable, would often linger in the blood of the original recipient and would then manifest itself in their descendants. I was unlucky enough to be just one such descendent.

My skin a dark red color, my shoulders and back decorated with scales, my eyes yellow with slits for pupils and horns grew from my forehead. I was seen as a monster by the town and my parents seemed afraid of me. As I grew older, the other children began to tease me about how I looked and would even go as far as throwing stones and hitting me with branches from oak trees. I had run into the woods one day when I was six to hide from them and had wandered into an old cave that people had always warned the children about. I knew they would not dare venture in, so that is where I hid. 

As I sat in the darkness, alone and scared, a small light flickered before my eyes. A faint voice whispered in my mind, soothing me and filling me with warmth. Why do you cry? Who has hurt you so that you would hide yourself away in this place?

I looked up and could see a small flame floating before my watery eyes. A dark face was visible from its depths, its features sad and worried. I wiped my eyes and looked into the flame, its warmth soothing the ache and pains of the bruises on my shoulders and arms. "I am a monster, so everyone hates me. I am hiding from them so they don't find me and hurt me ever again." The flame's expression took on a sad tone and it seemed to dim. I too am shunned by my own, they have sent me here to this place to flicker out and cease to be.

In that moment, we had made the most meaningful connection of my life. Here were two beings who had been abandoned by their own kind. This being of fire was the only person to ever speak to me as an equal. I instantly felt a deep connection to this small flickering flame and a desire to save him welled up from somewhere deep within me. "What can I do to help you stay alive?" This question surprised the flame, making it reel back and light up ever so slightly. What do you mean? You would wish to help a being of no importance like myself after only having known me for mere moments?

"You asked if I was ok even though you are about to vanish. Nobody has ever cared about me like that my entire life. I will help you in any way I can!" After that, we came to an agreement: He would live within me and use my life force to stay alive, making us one being, but in return he would lend me his power of flame once he regained his strength.

Our life together has been an interesting one. After our fateful encounter we have seen much of the wild lands and have explored places others wouldn't dare tread. From ancient ruins high up atop mountains all the way to deep caves in forgotten places. Our latest travels had brought us to Arcadia where Tainted had formed an activist group in order to gain fair treatment. The discrimination against us had gotten so bad that even as I walked into the city gates, many people tried to get the guards to throw me out of the city.

The group had been planning on taking a set of stolen gems from a noblewoman who wrongfully took them and were going to return them to show that even our kind could do the right thing. The plan backfired as someone caught us sneaking in and had called for the guards. When the guards tried to kill us on the spot, I used Ignis' powers to defend my group and let them get away, but the guards eventually overpowered me, forcing me to yield to them. A paladin showed up moments later and confiscated myself and the stolen gems from the woman, letting her off with nothing but a slight warning.

The Dwarf paladin placed enchanted cuffs on my wrists and looped the chain they were tied with to his belt. We walked across the city and to the docks where we boarded a small cargo vessel. Something is strange about this Trist. Shouldn't he have taken us to one of the temples for punishment or at least put us in a dungeon? Something was wrong and my expression must have made that clear to our captor.

"Don't worry Lad, I know what you and yer pals were tryin' ta do in there an' I commemorate yer bravery, but ya shoulda know it was doomed to fail. This boat is on its way ta Alria where my branch of the Order is located. When we get there, I'll make arrangements for a trial with a less severe punishment than what ya would of gotten here."

"You don't even know me, but you would do that for a Tainted? Aren't you a paladin of the Holy Knight Order? Don't you, you know, smite demons and the like?"

He lead me down into the hold of the ship where a Gnome was overseeing the loading of his precious cargo of general goods. When we had made it to the back of the hold the Dwarf turned to me and looked me dead in the eyes. "Ya may be a Tainted, but that don't make ya evil in any sense of ta word. I know those gems ya were after were stolen, I been lookin' for 'em for near on a month now, so we are going to return 'em ta their rightful owners, you are going to get your credit in their retrieval, then you will be tried fairly by a Cleric of ta highest order in a court of law."

I was shocked, this paladin was treating me like I was actually a person and not some unstoppable demon in disguise. I was about to thank him when he turned back to me with a stern expression and said, "But if ya cause any trouble on this boat I will use me sword to nail yer horns to the underside of the deck and let ya hang there until we get to where we are goin', ya understand?" I gulped and squeaked out a "Yes, sir." in reply.

Please Trist, for the love of all that is good, do try and NOT get yourself nailed to the ceiling by your horns.

Several more people of various natures and races boarded the ship, finding their own little spot in the small hold down below the main deck of the ship. The captain of the ship popped in and informed us of the current weather and that if the winds kept up it would be nearly a six week voyage. I looked over to my Dwarven companion and asked about getting my cuffs taken off. "Nary a chance o' that my friend." was the only response I got. This is going to be a long trip...